


For one so small, you seem so strong

by Indehed



Series: Lullaby Bay [5]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Episode Remix, Fluff, M/M, Post Mpreg
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-06 23:11:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6774109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indehed/pseuds/Indehed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a day off for the five-0 team and they're at the beach with the kids when the call comes in that they're needed on a case. Danny is left behind to take Leo and Hope to Rachel who has agreed to babysit when he realizes... he can't find his car. </p><p>It's been stolen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this verse began as a way for me to put some adjustments into episode 5x18 because it disappointed me, so I referenced higher stakes and made life difficult for Danny because of it. No, it's not just that simple to get over what the hell would happen to a cop in a corrupt Colombian prison! Around rolls season 6 (I've stopped watching) and I dipped into 6x18 (oh look exactly a year later!) to find that it missed out on a huge amount of potential! A fix it fits in perfectly with this universe - considering it's about Danny and his kids - so this is me rewriting it with higher stakes and likely a bit more drama and a whole lot of BAMFing.  
> Only thing to remember is that it's not set at the same period in time. This would actually be the equivalent of a late 'season ten' episode as Hope has just turned 2 years old and Leo is almost 4. Grace is 17 and finishing up at high school.

"Out!" Hope exclaimed from her buggy, limbs flailing around from where she was restrained in her seat.  
   
"No, not at the moment," Danny responded blithely as they walked down the street. 

He'd been unable to get parked closer. Damned tourists. And after taking Hope for her check up at the Clinic, they were heading to meet up with everyone else at the beach on what was turning out to be another gloriously sunny day in Hawaii.... with Danny having to put up with Hope's tantrum about the car seat and her squirming in the waiting room and now this. 

She continued to rock side to side in the pushchair almost throwing off its direction as Danny pushed it, one hand also clutching onto his phone as he tried to send a text to let Steve know they were almost there but he wasn't having much luck as he kept having to grab both hands onto the handles. 

"Danno!" She yelled out his name to get his attention and then just kept making loud vowel sounds of frustration as her little hands gripped the sides and she turned and wriggled, frustrated. "Out," she said again. 

"I said no, honey." Danny responded as he looked around them, trying to work out just how far down the sand the others would have gone and trying to keep an eye out for them. 

Usually they wouldn't go far when the kids were here, so they must be nearby. Hell, he could see Steve's truck - or what he assumed was the man's truck - parked nice and close. Typical. Danny was way to the side and halfway down the street and having to struggle with a two year old and a push chair and bag, while Steve got right to the front and just had a four year old to hold hands with when he arrived and not much else.

"Out, out, out," Hope kicked her feet up, landing them with soft thumps onto her seat in a rhythm each time. 

"Hey, hey, I said no. You're staying strapped in there until we find your father."  
   
"Daddy, out."  
   
"Yes, honey, once we find daddy."  
   
He looked around again, pushing the chair along the edge of the sandy sidewalk, keeping his eyes open for recognizable faces and voices.  
   
There was a call of his name and Chin came running over the sand towards him. "I thought I heard someone plaintively yelling at her Danno from way over there," Chin smiled and put his hands on his hips as he looked down at Hope. She went quiet, staring wide-eyed up at her Uncle. He looked back at Danny. "I'll help you over with the pushchair. Everyone's a little further down than usual," he lifted the front end and Hope laughed at him as they moved in tandem, avoiding getting the wheels stuck in the sand.  
   
They set the chair down by the empty towels and Danny looked up to see Steve and Kono with Leo and he immediately saw red. "What the-" he cut himself off from saying anything bad in front of Hope.  
   
He left her in the chair beside Chin and walked to the water's edge.  
   
"Hey! Hey, what are you doing?!"  
   
"Teaching him to surf!" Kono called back, a smile on her face to match the massive grin on Leo's, sitting on the front of Steve's board as they bobbed in the water.  
   
"Are you insane?!" he yelled again, this time more directed towards Steve. "He's four! Get back here this instant!"  
   
It took a moment, but then Steve began to paddle back to shore, climbing off the board and walking it and Leo back in. Leo ran through the ankle deep water until he could run straight up to him and Danny leaned down to sweep the soaking wet boy into his arms and hug him tight.  
   
"Daddy asked Auntie Kono to help," Leo started. "And we got a wave and Daddy let me go on it with him, it was fun!"  
   
"I'm sure it was," Danny hugged Leo as he scowled at Steve.  
   
Steve held his hands out. "It's perfectly normal for kids his age to be learning. Kono was on a board by now."  
   
Danny shook his head, unwilling to get into the same argument again and certainly not in front of the kids. He hadn't wanted them to be out trying to surf until they were at least six. Which had been a compromise from his original estimate of ten and only because Steve and Kono had badgered him. The fact that they'd taken Leo out when Danny wasn't around, more or less trying to hide it from him when they'd agreed to wait, is why he was annoyed.  
   
And now they'd use Leo's excitement and enjoyment of it against him. He'd cave. He knew he would. It would give him a heart attack to see his baby out in the water, and he'd give in, unable to resist the puppy eyes. But he'd go down fighting, goddamnit.

"Six. I said six and don't even pretend to have forgotten the myriad of discussions we've had on this matter," Danny warned Steve as he turned away.  
   
Leo hugged him and kissed his cheek in a proper hello as they walked back to the laid out towels. Chin was still guarding Hope but hadn't moved to do anything, looking unsure as to if he should give in to her demands to be let out.  
   
"Danno!" She reached out to him as he got closer. He dropped Leo back onto the ground and the boy immediately ran off back down the sand to the water and his father, splashing and kicking in the shallows before Danny could say anything to corral him.

"Okay, sweetheart, I'll let you out," Danny got down onto his knees and unbuckled her. Afterwards, she just looked at him, staying still for the first time all day. "Well?" he asked her. "You want out?"

She shook her head.

He stared down at her. "You've been moaning all morning about wanting out and now that you're allowed to you don't want to?"

She shook her head again as she bit her own fist. 

"What about lunch? You need to come out of the chair to eat lunch," he tried. 

"Eat here," she said and bobbed her head around looking at everyone but quite content to sit where she was and watch.

"Okay," Danny practically threw his hands up in the air. "You're impossible. Too much like your father."

"You sure about that?" Chin asked from where he was he sitting. "I thought she sounded more like you just now, than like Steve."

"Well, you don't get a vote, Chin. Trust me, anytime the kids act up or argue with me, they got it from their father." Case closed, as far as Danny was concerned. 

He grabbed the food from the table that Steve had ordered for their arrival and he made sure that the fish was okay for Hope to eat. He put a bib around her neck and then handed her the small paper basket and prayed that she wouldn't let go of it while eating from the buggy. Without anything to put it on and Hope demanding to stay where she was, he could foresee it ending in disaster but he wasn't going to argue with her right now, knowing it would set off an ear-piercing scream that he wasn't in the mood for.  
   
Steve brought Leo back up with him and lifted the young boy onto the wooden bench. He leaned over the table and dragged over the last of Leo's lunch that he hadn't finished and did his best to coax him to eat some more before he ran off again to play in the sand. Steve then placed a hand on Danny's shoulder and a kiss on his head before taking his leave to get a few more waves in with Chin while Danny and Kono were there to keep an eye on the kids.  
   
Kono, in some kind of peace offering for getting in the middle of the family surf argument, went to fetch food for Danny from the truck. She placed it in front of him, along with his can of soda, with a voila and apologetic wide eyes.

He squinted up at her, the bright sun aggravating his eyes in that typical way that always made him curse Hawaii. "It's going to take more than barbecue chicken to get out of this one. You know seeing my babies surf is enough to give me a pulmonary edema."

"Pulled-dema," Leo repeated from his seat as he played with one of his toy cars. 

Danny glanced at his son before turning back to Kono. "See? Leo's smart enough to know these words, I know you are too, so why would you team up with my wayward, neanderthal of a husband against me on this?"

"You're not going to have a heart attack Danny," she rolled her eyes as she plonked herself down on the bench opposite him and leaned forward on her elbows. "And this peace offering is Koala Moa chicken. You know this stuff is the best on the island. I only give the best in bribes."

"You're forgiven on one condition."

"What's that?"

"Take Hope to the ladies room for me. And make sure to wash all the shrimp bits from her hands, face…" he glanced down at the sweet and pleased-with-herself face of his innocent daughter. "… and hair. Thank you."

He relieved the toddler of the mostly empty lunch plate before she could mush any more of it around or on herself and encouraged her to go with Auntie Kono to get cleaned up.

"What about you, Richard Petty, huh? You need to go get cleaned up?"

"I can clean up in the ocean," Leo answered, barely moving his eyes from the serious business of moving the small Lightning McQueen toy along the edge of the table.

"You can? Is that right?"

"Daddy said it's better and easier."

"Remember what we said about daddy before?"

"He's nander-fall."

"And what does that mean?"

"That he's wrong?" Leo looked up at Danny for confirmation.

"Well done. So you need to remember to challenge daddy when he says silly things and ask him if he thinks that's what Danno would do. And you always make him do what Danno would do."

"I did say that. I asked him and he said Danno worries too much and that if there's still germs on me that's good cos… umm… cos… it helps me get used to them?"

Danny nodded along. "Okay, well, I know what daddy means and he has a kind of a point but he's still wrong."

"Nander-fall," Leo smiled. 

"And we don't let him forget it," Danny agreed with Leo, both of them smiling at their almost private joke. 

"What am I not to forget?" Steve asked as he dropped his surf board to the sand and came closer again, still dripping wet and not caring where he got the water.

"Nander-fall!" Leo laughed.

"Ah, okay, sure, that again," Steve put his hands on his hips and shook his head. "Come on, buddy, you wanna go make sand castles?"

"Yeah! Big ones!" Leo shouted excited as he dropped his car and jumped down from the bench and began running ahead of Steve. 

"Leo, don't go running off on your own. Wait for daddy," Danny yelled after him. 

"I've got this," Steve assured him, leaning in for a quick, salty kiss before turning and yelling louder than Danny had. "Frederick Leo, you stop this instant and wait for me! Don't ever go running off on your own!"

Kono was slowly walking Hope back to their table, her arm stretched down as it held tightly to Hope's little hand and when the toddler saw her Danno, her eyes lit up again and she got away from the hold to run the last ten feet or so.

Danny swept her up into his arms. "Same goes for you, bean. No running off. I don't want anything happening to you."

"Yes, Danno," she said as her head moved over his shoulder to watch her brother and father playing further down the sand. 

She squirmed in Danny's hold but she didn't really want to go anywhere… or she was torn between the two. She seemed to settle for watching her brother (who she was beginning to idolize more and more) and staying tucked comfortably and safely in her Danno's hold. 

Hope wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his cheek. "Love you, Danno."

"Danno loves you, too."

"Awww," Kono smiled as she watched. "I love you guys, too. Sometimes I get jealous of the family you all built."

"There's nothing stopping you building one of your own. Adam's free and clear now, right? Maybe it's time. And you know Chin is dying to be a proper uncle."

"Hey, he can have his own rugrats with Abby - they've been together long enough now. He needs to get a ring on her finger too, but you didn't hear that from me," she held a hand up.

"After Malia, I'm not surprised he'd take his time."

"Yeah, but that was a long time ago now. Six years? And he's been with Abby for three or four now."

"Maybe he thinks marriage is a jinx to it all or something. He didn't get to be with Malia for long and with Abby being a cop, too…. it's goofy excuses but I could understand it."

"You hate marriage and you got married again. Chin needs to get over himself and make an honest woman out of her."

"Well, with you badgering him about it, I'm sure he'll get it done soon," Danny rolled his eyes and bumped Hope up in his arms where she was beginning to slip. "And this one gets to be a flower girl again."

"She'd be so cute toddling down the aisle. Man, Chin has to get married, I want to see another glitzy wedding with all the cute kids, and beautiful dresses and tuxedoed men," she practically whined as she spoke and sounded more 'girly' than Danny was used to getting from her. But Kono was the kind of woman who could be and do anything. Hardass and cold as ice one minute and fawning over weddings and little tiny baby shoes the next. It was one of the things he loved most about her - she could be everything. And he really wished that Hope would grow up wanting to be like her. 

Maybe minus the guns and danger parts.

Not that it was working with Grace - who had spent a lifetime wanting to be a marine biologist only to be making waves about joining the police academy. She still needed to complete her senior year of high school and get a college degree first and hopefully by then she'd be persuaded out of it. 

Danny turned his attention back to Hope and her big smile as she watched her brother pretend to be Godzilla and wreck the fancy castle he and Steve had just built. 

"My gorgeous girl. You'd like to wear a pretty dress at Uncle Chin's hypothetical wedding wouldn't you? You got your daddy's good looks so you just know you'd rock a cute little number, yeah? Just like at Daddy and Danno's wedding."

"I still laugh when I remember how Leo just rocketed down the aisle to bring the rings to you both."

"That's because Leo inherited his father's lack of patience. This little one has more sense than that. She's more careful."

"It's so cute. Leo looks so much like you but got Steve's personality. And Hope is the spitting image of Steve but acts more like you. They're just perfect little bitty mixes of the both of you."

"Funny how things work. You and me, we're the sensible ones. Right, bean sprout? If we built a nice sandcastle we'd stand back and admire the craftsmanship rather than run around destroying it, right?"

"Right," Hope nodded her head resolutely and then high-fived her Danno. She twisted in his hold again and he helped her stand on the bench beside him as she faced where Steve and Leo were and screamed out. "Stop! Leave castle 'lone!"

Danny flinched at how loud she was and turned so he got a better view of what was going on without wrenching his neck. "Shhhh," he told her. "Not so loud."

"But it's fun!" Leo yelled back over to her. "You should try it, bean!"

She looked like she was about to jump down and run all the way down to the water but Danny grabbed her arm. "Ah. No. We've talked about this, Hope. You don't let your brother drag you into things that can get you in trouble."

She thought about it for long moments and then tried to jump down again, ignoring Danny.

"Hope Meka, what did I just say?"

"Leo's trouble."

"Close enough. Just stay here with me. And if you're very good we might share a shave ice later."

"Ice!"

"That's right but only if you're good and do what Danno tells you to do."

Before they could continue and Danny could consider asking Kono to go get them all some desert, he could hear Steve's phone ringing from the pocket of his pants that were lying haphazardly on the towel nearby. 

He glanced at Kono who gave him the same look back. One that said if this call was important it would be just typical. Right when they were all able to enjoy a day off together.

He told Hope to stay put and walked over to the towels, rifling through the pockets until he found the right one, taking the phone out and answering. "McGarrett's phone, this is Detective Williams," he answered, recognizing the dispatch number. 

_"That's cute, you answer each others' phones now, too? Shouldn't you have answered it as McGarrett-Williams or something?"_ He recognized Alika's voice at the other end of the line.

"Very funny. And this call better have been by mistake, Alika. You do know its our day off, right?"

_"Sorry, Danny. We've got a situation that the governor wants five-0 on."_

"You're kidding me, really? It's our day off, why do criminals always do this. Can you answer me that?"

_"Wish I could, but I have no more insight into their minds than you do."_

"They do it on purpose. They know just how to piss me off and do it on purpose." He sighed and tipped his head back. "Look, we're way out of town so it'll take a while for the team to get back in. Call Captain Grover, he'll be closer, the rest of them will get in asap. Text the address to Steve's phone."

 _"Thanks Danny. Good luck,"_ she hung up and he threw the phone onto the table. Kono had already darted off to go get the others and break the bad news to them. 

Steve carried Leo back up the beach towards them with a restrained scowl on his face. When he reached where Danny was sitting with Hope on his lap he stopped. "You should have ignored the call."

"You can't escape dispatch and you know it," Danny reminded him. Dispatch would have hounded them until they picked up.

Steve sighed and let Leo slide down his body until his small feet were on the ground. He then crouched lower. "Sorry, buddy. Duty calls, we've got to cut short the beach day."

"No! I don't wanna! We were going to play with the squishy football!"

"I know, I'm really sorry. We'll do it another day, I promise."

Leo stifled his tears of frustration and ducked his head into Danny's lap and gripped at his pants. Danny handed Hope off to Steve so that he could have a few more moments with her while he comforted their son. 

"Hey, Leo, come on now, we told you this morning we might get called into work. We made plans in case it did, so I'm going to take you and your sister to visit Auntie Rachel and if you're lucky Grace won't be out all day shopping with her friends."

"Grace-face?"

"Yeah. I'll text Grace, okay? We'll ask her to come home early and spend some time with you, how about that?"

"Okay," Leo agreed, clambering up onto the bench again and pressing into Danny's side. 

Steve handed Hope back down to Danny with a kiss on her head. "So you'll take them to Rachel and then follow to the crime scene?"

"I'll text once I'm there, let me know if by then you're on your way back to the office. I might just meet you there and start going over the evidence." He stood, shifting Hope onto his hip and leaned up into Steve so they could kiss properly. 

"Sounds like a plan," Steve pressed his lips dryly to Danny's again. "Don't take too long. Sooner you get there, the sooner we all solve this thing and go home."

Danny and the kids waved everyone off and then Danny set about getting everything else around them organized. He watched with a keen eye as he allowed Leo to go to the nearby trash bin with their used plates and forks while he settled Hope back into her push chair so they could walk back to the car. 

He struggled a little to get the stroller off the sand, until a good samaritan helped him with the last 10 feet. He held Leo's hand while pushing with the other and they slowly made their way down the sidewalk as Leo and Hope pointed out the different colors of the cars.

Then Danny stopped. 

Had he overshot the car while they played the color game? He turned around and looked about. 

No, this was where he'd parked the car, he was sure of it. It definitely wasn't further up, he couldn't see it where the cars thinned out. And they definitely hadn't passed it. There's no way Leo would have missed it, he loved their car. 

"Danno? Where's the car?"

"That's a very good question, munchkin."

"Did daddy take it?"

"No, he took his truck. I watched him drive off." Danny looked around again. He patted his pockets. "Shit."

"Bad word," Leo said automatically. 

"My phone must have been in the car. What the…? I think someone stole the car."

"Uh-oh," Leo said and moved around to the front of the buggy. "It's okay, Hopey, but bad men took the car."

"Uh-oh," Hope said, repeating her brother's earlier words.

Danny couldn't agree more with the sentiment.


	2. Chapter 2

The bus stop wasn't far but the wait seemed interminable. The air around them was sandy from the beach and the light wind still whipped up enough of it to cause a dust cloud that lingered every time a car drove by.

He held Hope sideways on his lap while Leo sat swinging his legs beside them, though many a time he'd had to shoot his hand out to stop Leo from climbing down and trying to wander off. 

"Why not call daddy? Would that be quickest?" Leo asked, growing bored. 

"I already told you, I left my phone in the car so I don't have it. As soon as we get back to the city, we'll go see Duke, you remember Duke, don't you?"

"Uh-huh."

"He'll help Danno sort out everything with the car and we'll take it from there."

"Want daddy," Hope squinted under the sunhat Danny had rescued from the buggy that sat beside them, folded up and ready to get on the bus when it came in. 

"Daddy's busy, bean. We'll see him at home, ah, stop it, both of you," Danny admonished when Leo started poking at his sister's feet and she kicked out at him. "Look, here it comes. This is the bus we're getting on. Leo, jump down and hold onto me while I carry the buggy, okay?"

"'kay," was all the response he got as Leo's playful but bored personality changed to one of mild trepidation alongside the curiosity - he'd never been on a bus before and didn't know what to expect. They'd always had the car. Or the truck. Public transport was new. 

"I used to get the bus all the time when I was little. Cars were too expensive to always have," Danny told the kids as the bus pulled up. 

"Can't we use another car?" Leo looked up at him, almost begging. 

He rearranged his hold on Hope. "You got a thousand dollars? I didn't think so. We can't just buy a new car and it'll cost a fortune to get a cab because we are too far out of town. And the two of you, plus your sister, and even Nahele all eat your father and me out of house and home so we can't afford it. The bus'll be fun. It's okay."

The doors opened and the other people at the stop allowed Danny and the kids to head on first, clearly aware of his juggling act and being kind in that regard, but not doing a whole lot to help. He manhandled the folded buggy up into the bus behind Leo who he ushered in first.

"Detective Williams, good to see you," a friendly voice greeted them and Danny looked up to see a familiar face driving. 

"Mamo, hey," he replied. 

"Howzit, keiki's," the native Hawaiian asked as Leo bit down onto his own hand in shyness and Hope kept quiet though her eyes were wide. 

"Mamo, does this bus go all the way to Waikiki?"

"Sure does. Last stop. But what happened to that nice car of yours?"

"That's a very good question. I'd like to know the answer to that myself. Seems someone decided it was so nice they were going to take it even if it wasn't theirs."

"Stolen?" Mamo looked shocked. The man was old and wise and lovely and somehow blind to the darker side of life despite knowing of its existence. He always seemed shocked when the bad things happened. As Danny began fishing in his pocket for money, Mamo waved him off. "No, no charge, not for you and these keikis. Not when you have been so wronged today."

"Thanks, Mamo. Uh…. mahalo," he said and got a beaming smile in return. He may be reluctant to assimilate, but the kind gesture from Mamo deserved a little local thanks as well. Clearly Steve and Grace were rubbing off on Danny more than he realized. 

He ushered Leo to one of the first seats, secured the stroller beside them and kept a firm grip on his now squirming daughter as they sat. 

"You visited the beach this morning?" Mamo asked he started driving.

"Yeah, was supposed to be a nice day out with the family and ohana until we got the dreaded call and the rest of the team had to go work a case."

"How come you stayed with the kids and not Stevie? I hope he's pulling his weight with the keikis. You need me to have a talk with him and I will."

"That's okay, Mamo. Steve's doing fine, it's just my turn is all. We have a deal that when one of us takes lead being on call with HPD, the other is technically 'on call' when it comes to the kids."

"You are very good parents. I can tell. There is a reason you were one so fortunate as to be blessed as you are," Mamo told him and Danny was as ever hyper-aware of the spirituality. He changed the subject quickly. 

"I didn't know you drove a bus, Mamo," he said. 

"Sure. When the waves are flat in the winter, I drive this baby. I get to see the island, meet new people. I love this bus. She may be old, but she runs like a Swiss watch and no one keeps their ride cleaner than me."

"I tell you, without question, this is the cleanest bus I've been on in my life," Danny told him as he bounced Hope on his knee.

"See, I go at it even after the cleaning crew have done their work. Not everyone has the same standards, you know."

"I am all for a tidy vehicle. Which is very hard to keep when you've gotta share your car with a neanderthal. And a teenager and 2 young kids. The odds are stacked against me."

"Ha, well-" Mamo began and then at a sound like gunfire, he began to break. At first it sounded like a flat tire but through the front window, Danny could see the two guys shooting up the gas station across the street. 

He stood, one arm clutched tightly around Hope and the other clinging onto the metal pole as the bus continued and the gas station came into view down the side windows and he could see his car parked there.

"Son of a bitch," he said under his breath and from behind, Leo tried to clamber around the seat and pointed at the way the Camaro was speeding off. 

"It's like your car, Danno!"

"That's because it is Danno's car, buddy," He placed Hope carefully on the seat beside Leo. "Keep an eye on your sister and don't you dare move. I'm right here with Mamo, okay?"

Leo nodded and with constant backwards glances, Danny moved the few feet to the front of the bus. "Follow that car," he asked of the driver. 

"But there could be people hurt back there."

"No, it's okay, there's other people there, they can call for help. We need to track the bad guys. You got a cell phone I can borrow?"

"Sure, but is this wise? There are civilians on this bus. Keikis. Your little ones."

"I know that, and no one's going to get hurt here, you're just going to follow carefully. They won't even know we're behind them. It's just a bus, right?" he patted Mamo's shoulder and took the offered phone. 

He held the phone up and saw 'no signal' flashing at him. Mamo glanced at him. "We might still be in a black hole here. No signal for a while longer. The gas station has a landline, we can call it in."

"We'll keep trying until we get something, keep on my car," he said and then moved backwards into the bus again. He bent over to swoop Hope back into his arms as she was trying to crawl along the line of seats. "Excuse me everyone, can I have your attention! My name is Detective Danny Williams, I'm with Five-0. I'm sorry to interrupt your trip, but I need to take this bus and follow the car we saw flee the gas station. So, everyone in the front, please move to the back, thank you. And check your cell phones, let me know if anyone gets service."

"What about us, Danno?" Leo asked. 

"You guys are going to sit tight with me. We stick together, yeah?"

"Always," Leo smiled, still swinging his legs from the seat that was too high for him. 

Danny shifted Hope to his other side and pulled her in to kiss against her head as he paced a little up and down the bus. The journey seemed to be lulling her. She was quiet and tired and needed her nap and as much as Danny wished she could sleep through this, he wasn't in a position to really let her. Which meant she was going to be very cranky later on.

"Why are they driving so slow?" Mamo asked him. 

"They think they got away with it so they're driving casual to not draw attention. You do the same and we'll all be okay," he said before covering Hope's ears as his voice rose to address the whole bus again. "Anything with the cell phones?" he asked and got a bunch of shaking heads and negatives. 

"Excuse me, I want to get off," an older woman asked him. 

"I know. I want all of us off this bus but we've got to hold on a little longer until I can get a call into HPD and report this. The last thing we want is those two men shooting some other innocent people and we can prevent that. I just need you to stay calm a little longer. Is that okay?"

She gave a brief smile as she took a breath to try and do just that. "The children. They are yours."

"Yeah, my pride and joy. I've got an older daughter as well, she's with her mother right now."

"Mine are all grown up but I remember them at this age. Fussy. Needing attention. And I think, needing a diaper change," she pointed at Hope and Danny made a face. Great, this was not the time. He lifted her to sniff at her backside and the old woman was right - Hope needed changing. 

"Okay, uh, everyone, I apologize but my daughter needs changed so I need to do that up here… maybe if you open a few windows…" He grabbed for the folded buggy and the baby bag that was still hanging from it and pulled out what he needed. "Mamo, I know you like to keep a clean bus and I'm thankful for that right now for the kids' sake and also very sorry if Hope makes any more mess while I'm doing this."

As he got to it, Hope squirming and pulling faces, getting uncomfortable in the diaper she had on, the woman kept talking to Danny. "You're a cop, but you're not on duty if you're with them."

"No, I'm not, but in many ways we're never off duty. My husband is working a case right now, but if I can get through to him, he'll get help to us asap."

"You're husband? I thought you said your older daughter was with your wife…" she asked, confused. 

"Ex-wife. My oldest is from my first marriage. These two are from the second," Danny concentrated on Hope more than the woman and he missed the gasp of realization from her. 

"Wait are you…? And these keikis…. you're the police detective that was on the news," she moved closer to him, almost conspiratorially. "You're the one who was blessed to have two children of your own."

Danny looked around them as he pulled Hope's clothes back together again and lifted her back into his arms.

Leo stood beside him and beamed a smile up at the woman. "We came from Danno's tummy. It was daddy's fault," he whispered very loudly. 

"Ah, well, yes, I uh… I don't," Danny tried to brush off when the bus veered violently to the right and Danny fell back onto the seat and reached a hand out to stop Leo from bashing his head on the pole in front of him. "Mamo! Stop, stop!" he cried out from behind. 

Hope had begun to cry at the sudden movement and the way Danny had grasped her to his body in protection. He had to shush her as best as he could while approaching Mamo again. 

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Leo cried out from behind, copying his father. 

"You said to follow the car," Mamo said in explanation. 

"I also said drive casual. When was the last time you saw a bus veer off into a dirt road when it's heading to Honolulu?!"

"Do you think they noticed?"

Danny watched the lights on the Camaro change where it was stationary ahead of them and he knew. He just knew they were in trouble. "Okay, take her for me, please, and hold on tight and get in the back," he handed Hope over to Mamo as he gave up the driver's seat to Danny. "Okay, everyone, I'm very sorry about this but you're all going to have to hang on back there, this is going to get bumpy!"

He fumbled with the controls. Sure, he'd done pursuit driving courses of all kinds and been in too many high speed chases to count both driving and as a passenger, but this bus was old and the controls weren't where he expected them to be. 

He finally found how to get the bus in gear and it came to life just as the Camaro began to reverse at speed. It rocketed around, churning up a load of sandy dirty with it as it spun and came about. Danny could only hold on and keep the bus in reverse as the Camaro sped at them. 

Leo came running forward towards his father. He'd always been told to seek out his parents in danger and he was doing just that, but Danny had a bad feeling about all of this and wanted his kids in the back and down out of sight and… out of range. 

He turned his head back. "Down! Everybody down!" 

Mamo cradled Hope's head as she cried when the loud bangs began. Leo clutched for Danny's leg. "Down, Leo, get to the ground in the stairwell. Now!" he yelled as the bullets began flying through the windshield, shattering it, sending the glass all over the place. He could see it in Leo's hair and all around him as he crouched low and sat on one of the stairs. "Don't move, Leo, it's dangerous."

Another bullet ripped into the seat behind him and another shot off the side mirror until the Camaro sped by them, turning back onto the main road. Danny kept the bus in reverse until they were turned enough to finally move forward themselves and follow the car. 

In anger, he shifted into gear and pressed the accelerator. 

"Leo, come here, buddy. Be careful, that's glass around you," he said, eyes darting between the Camaro speeding away in front of them and Leo getting up from the ground, little hands digging into the glass on the ground and getting it into his palm. 

"Owie," Leo said and threw his arms around Danny's leg. 

"It's okay, buddy. I need you to be brave for a little longer and we'll get you looked at. Mamo, is Hope okay?"

"She's fine, but Danny, maybe you should stop. We'll get everyone out, find a working phone. Let those men go, I'm sure HPD will pick them up, they know your car."

"Yeah, they do and now that these guys know they've been made they'll ditch my car and get another one. Then they're in the wind. I won't let that happen."

"Danny-"

"No, Mamo. They shot at us. They shot at my kids, I will NOT let them get away with this!" Danny shouted back in anger and whacked his hand off the steering wheel, hitting the horn as he did so. He wrapped a hand around Leo where his son was unwilling to let go of him, scared. 

The phone in his pocket rang with a call coming in for Mamo. He pulled it out, answered and then immediately hung up on the caller and began dialing one of the few numbers he knew off by heart. He'd completely forgotten they were waiting for a signal and pure dumb luck had reminded him of it.

"McGarrett."

"Steve? Steve, can you hear me?"

"Is it daddy? Daddy we're in trouble!" Leo called out.

"Steve?"

"Hello?" Steve said on the other end and then the phone beeped and died on them. 

"Son of a bitch," Danny muttered under his breath. How on Earth Oahu could have such a horrid cell signal was beyond him and was one of the many reasons he hated this island. New Jersey had plenty of signal. Four bars. All the time. Mostly. 

He lifted his head to see the Camaro pulled over to the side of the road. He carefully turned the bus off but kept it at a safe distance behind in case the two criminals were close by.

As soon as the bus was in park, he lifted Leo onto himself and wiped away the stray wet tracks around his eyes, kissed his head for being a trooper and did his best to comfort him. "Let's see those hands, buddy," he asked and Leo held his palms up for Danny. He brushed away what glass he could and was careful to take out the two larger pieces that were still just under Leo's skin and making him bleed. 

"Bleeding," Leo sniffed. 

"I know, but it's okay. You've been very brave. There's a first aid kit in the car and we'll get you a band-aid from there in a minute, okay?"

Leo nodded and Danny lifted him back down. He approached Mamo and the scared people on the bus.

"What's your plan? They must be long gone," Mamo asked.

"Maybe. I'm going to go check the car, do me a favor and take care of the kids for me. Just for a moment."

"Danno, no. I want to stay with you," Leo whined, holding his arms up for Danny. 

"I know, Leo, but it's too dangerous for you. You're too little and you're already wounded in action, right? You stay here and guard the bus and these people with Mamo and I'll be right back."

"You got it," Mamo told him and Danny opened the door, climbing out and slowly approaching the car. He glanced back a few times, worried out of his mind that someone would convince Mamo to take the bus back and leave him here and that his kids would be with those strangers as well. But he swallowed it down as he got closer.

The car was empty and there was no sign of the two criminals he was chasing. The trunk was open and he looked in to find they'd taken the spare gun. He moved to where the driver's door was open and checked in every compartment to find they'd also taken his phone. 

He went back to the bus. 

"Is it safe? What do you we do now?" Mamo asked as he handed a fussy Hope back over to her father and Leo ran to cling to Danny's leg. 

"The plan is that you take the bus and these people and get to Honolulu. As soon as you get a signal on your phone, you call it in. Do you know where we are right now?"

"Sure, I know this island like the back of my hand, brah," Mamo assured him. 

"Okay, make sure to get HPD out here as soon as possible."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to follow in my car, just as soon as I get Leo patched up a little. We'll be fine and right behind you."

"HPD will be looking for the car if they called it in at the gas station," Mamo warned. 

"I know, and the minute blue lights get on my back, I'll be stopping and getting this mess sorted. Just make sure to call HPD."

"What about Steve? Should I call him?"

"HPD can do that, and I'm in no hurry for him to kill me for getting into trouble and not calling him sooner. Just make sure these people are safe."

"I can take the keikis. Or you can all come on the bus with us," Mamo tried but Danny wasn't having it. 

"I prefer to take my car," he said, looking back at it. The car was a mess but it was intact. The car seat for Hope was still in place and the first aid kit and supplies were in the back. The thieves had just taken the weapons and phones and tracked dirt into the car, nothing more. 

"I don't like leaving you here. It seems wrong. You and these kids, you need protecting."

"No we don't. We're not museum pieces," Danny pointed out, not in the mood for a spiritual discussion on how 'special' he and the kids were.

"I agree with the driver," the woman Danny had spoken to earlier piped up. "You're a special man. You carried those children from conception. Two of them. That's a rare and precious thing and you should not be put in danger. Your blessing has seen us safe so far, do not test it."

"We're not in danger anymore," he assured her and Mamo… and the others on the bus listening in who were all now whispering among themselves about just who Danny was. "The thieves have fled, I'm just going to get in my own car and follow you. I'll be just five minutes behind. It's okay."

"You're the professional," Mamo finally gave way. 

"Thank you, and you're the professional bus driver, so you go ahead and do the driving."

"Right behind me," Mamo double checked. 

"Just a few minutes," Danny took up all their belongings and climbed off the bus, turning to encourage Leo down and he held Hope's head close to him while he waved the bus off. They started walking towards the car but he didn't have enough hands to hold onto Leo who darted ahead, wanting to get to the familiar car, the safety of it. "Hey, buddy, stay with me, don't wander off!" he warned his son who slowed to a halt and waited patiently for his father. 

He put Hope in her car seat and lifted Leo to sit on the bumper while he opened the first aid kit and got a wipe to help Leo's hands. He winced as it stung but Danny assured him that it would help. He then wrapped a couple of band-aids round the fingers that had bled and Leo seemed happy enough again.

He strapped the kids in then closed the driver's door, allowing himself one moment to relax his head back against the headrest. He glanced in the direction the thieves had run, itching to go after them but well aware that his duty lay with his kids right now. Hopefully now they were on foot in the middle of nowhere, they wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else. 

Danny leaned forward, turning the ignition… and nothing happened. 

He tried again. 

The car spluttered and died. 

He tensed his entire body and refrained from yelling out loud as he saw the car was out of gas. 

No wonder they'd stopped driving! Who gave up a performance muscle car as a get away vehicle even if it had been recognized? And Danny had been due to get gas himself and planned to on their way home from the beach; he just hadn't realized they'd come so far since or that the car had been quite so low. 

So now they were stuck here. In a broken down car that the police would be hunting for while two criminals with guns were in they forest and could be close by.

Steve was going to kill him for not going back to the city on the bus with Mamo and everyone else.

*

Steve was with Lou and Jerry working on the case when his phone rang. He answered it, thinking it might be the person who had tried him earlier only to be cut off. He'd thought it should be Danny by now calling to let him know he was on the way from Rachel's.

"McGarrett," he said.

"Steve it's Duke. I've got something you're going to want to be involved in."

"Five-0 already got a case today, Duke, we don't need another."

"Steve, it's Danny," Duke started. 

"Danny?" Steve's heart rate immediately picked up at the tone of Duke's voice and it drew attention from Lou and Jerry. 

"We've got reports that Danny's Camaro was involved in a shooting at a gas station up towards Kaaawa earlier on."

"Wait, what? Duke, that's not possible, why would Danny be involved in a shooting? He's with the kids. You must have the wrong car!"

"We allowed for that. All we knew at first was it was a black Camaro but then five minutes ago we got a call come in on 911 saying that a bus had been following the stolen car and got made. Danny and the kids were on it. The bus got all shot up in the chase. The driver called it in as soon as he got signal."

"What?!" Steve yelled. "Where's the bus now? I'm coming with you."

"We told him to drive to the precinct in Kaneohe."

"I'll meet you there," Steve hung up and met the concerned gazes of his team members. "Danny and the kids are in trouble."

"Go, we'll take care of everything here," Lou assured him. 

"And Danny say's you're the trouble magnet," Jerry said. 

"I swear to God if someone has hurt my kids…" Steve trailed off as he stormed out of the room, current case forgotten and mind entirely on making sure his family were safe.


End file.
